Mother’s Day Facts

Mother's Day is a modern celebration that started in North America to honor one's own mother, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in various parts of the world, but usually falls in March or May. Read the fact file below for more information on Mother's Day.

Mother’s Day falls on the second Sunday in May and is a celebration of Motherhood.

Mother’s Day is a day set aside to express love, respect and thanks to Mothers. The day is observed by giving gifts, visiting, or taking Mothers out for dinner and celebration.

Julia Ward Howe was the first person to suggest the observance of a Mother’s Day in 1872. The day was dedicated to peace. She held an annual meeting, for several years in the city of Boston, Massachusetts for this observance.

In 1887, Mary Towles Sasseen, a Kentucky school teacher, began conducting Mother’s Day celebrations and in 1904, Frank E. Hering of South Bend, Indiana began a campaign for the observance of Mother’s Day. However, it wasn’t until Anna Jarvis, of West Virginia, began a nationwide campaign for its observance that the idea took root.

Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution of Congress recommending observance of Mother’s Day by executive branches of the government on May 9, 1914. The following year, Mother’s Day was designated an annual national observance.
6. Many other countries of the world celebrate their own Mother’s Day at different times throughout the year. Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, as in the U.S.

There are 84 million mom’s in the U.S.

There are more phone calls made on Mother’s Day than on any other day of the year.